2011 August

Three From Seven

‘Seven Samurai’ (1954), directed by Akira Kurosawa, is widely acknowledged as one of the greatest films ever made. Set in Japan in 1587, it’s the story of a village of poor farmers who hire seven ronin (masterless samurai) to protect them from bandits who will return after the harvest to steal their crops. Kurasawa, widely regarded as Japan’s greatest director, would go on to make other essential movies, including ‘Throne Of Blood’ (1957), ‘Yojimbo’ (1961), and ‘Ran’ (1985), but ‘Seven Samurai’ remained his defining work.

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00August 31, 2011|DVD, Film, See, The Fifties, Video|2 Comments

Living To Music – James Brown ‘Live At The Apollo’

The oldest Living To Music inclusion to date, recorded on October 24th 1962, before Martin Luther King made his ‘I Have A Dream’ speech, before JFK was assassinated, before Dylan released ‘Blowin’ In The Wind’, and just as The Beatles had started out on their recording career (their first single, ‘Love Me Do’, released just a few weeks earlier). In a modern context, this is ancient history, yet its influence is still felt today, even if people don’t realise the full gravity of Brown’s legacy.

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00August 30, 2011|Black Culture, CD’s / Digital, Hear, Living To Music, Records, The Sixties|10 Comments

Jerry Leiber & Nick Ashford‏

Two black music greats died this week. To name but some of the songs they co-wrote with their partners: ‘Ain't No Mountain High Enough’, ‘Ain't Nothing Like the Real Thing’, ‘California Soul’, ‘Don’t Cost You Nothing’, ‘Hound Dog’, ‘I’m Every Woman’, ‘Is That All There Is?’, ‘It Seems To Hang On’, ‘Jailhouse Rock’, ‘Kansas City’, ‘On Broadway’, ‘Reach Out and Touch (Somebody's Hand)’, ‘Spanish Harlem’, ‘Stand By Me’, ‘Surrender’, ‘There Goes My Baby’, ‘Yakety Yak’, ‘You're All I Need To Get By’

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00August 24, 2011|Black Culture, Records, RIP, The Fifties, The Seventies, The Sixties|1 Comment

Legend – Manchester’s Other Club

For my 100th blog post thought I’d flag up another personal anniversary this month. Everyone has heard of The Haçienda, but not many people know about Legend, which could well be described as Manchester’s other club of the 80’s – I was fortunate enough to be associated with both.

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00August 23, 2011|Black Culture, DJ / Club Culture, DJ Appearances, Hear, Manchester, Records, The Eighties, Video|27 Comments

Vintage Trilogy

I’m back in London this weekend for the 2020 birthday party at Village Underground in Shoreditch. Sadly, given the events of recent days, I’m anticipating a very different London to the city I was in at the end of July for the Vintage Festival at the Royal Festival Hall on the Southbank. I don’t think the capital will ever be quite the same again after what happened (I say happened in the hope that we’ve seen the worst of it now).

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00August 10, 2011|DJ / Club Culture, DJ Appearances, Hear, Mixes|0 Comments

Living To Music – Amy Winehouse ‘Back To Black’

This Sunday (August 7th), at 9pm, you’re invited to share a listening session with some likeminded souls, wherever you might be. This can be experienced either alone or communally, and you don’t need to leave the comfort of your own home to participate.

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00August 2, 2011|CD’s / Digital, Hear, Living To Music, Records|14 Comments

Watching The Watchmen

Having now got a copy of the three and a half hour long ‘Ultimate Cut’ of the film, I know that my original copy of the DVD, an hour shorter in length, is now redundant. The whole problem with making ‘Watchmen’ into a film was how do you cram so much into so little time, so it stands to reason that the longer it is, the more detail you get.

By Greg Wilson|2025-04-07T10:37:58+00:00August 2, 2011|Animation, Books, Comics, DVD, Film, Read, See|3 Comments

2026 DJ DATES:

31.12 Todmorden – NYE @ The Golden Lion

17.01 Belfast – The Deer’s Head

23.01 Bristol – Lost Horizon

05.02 New York – Jeans

07.02 Upstate New York – Disco Chalet

13.02 Los Angeles – Spotlight

14.02 San Francisco – Great Northern

21.02 London – Fac 51 Haçienda @ Drumsheds

06.03 Brussels – C12 Brussels

08.03 Bognor Regis – Bugged Out

21.03 Leeds – Downtown Disco @ Archive

03.04 Carlisle – The Brickyard

04.04 Dewsbury – The Terrace

05.04 Liverpool – Gloria’s

18.04 Margate – Margate Arts Club

19.04 London – Jazz Cafe

24.04 Manchester – Manchester Cathedral

02.05 London – Disco Disco @ Queens Yard

16.05 Bristol – Where We Belong Festival

23.05 Hastings – The Print Works

30.05 Steyning – Steyning Festival

12.06 Stockport – Moovin Festival

20.06 Newcastle – Frate

27.06 Penzance – Golowan Festival

11.07 London – Brixton Freight Island

26.07 Manchester Freight Island

26.07 Hertfordshire – Campo Sanchez

31.07 Oxfordshire – Wilderness Festival

15.08 Newcastle- E-Soul Cultura @ Freight Island

15.08 Warrington- Brickhaus

18.08 Ibiza- 528

23.08 Dorset- We Out Here Festival

04.09 Lindisfarne Festival

05.09 Battle – Crafted @ Powdermills

10.09 Winchester – Mucky Weekender

I’m a DJ from Merseyside. I started out in 1975, but stopped for almost 20 years, between 1984 and the end of 2003, at which point I started again.

One night during the period I wasn’t deejaying, turning off my mind, relaxing, and floating downstream I had what might be termed a moment of clarity. Paradoxically, although I was no longer a DJ in the literal sense I suddenly became aware that I’d never actually stopped being a DJ, for even if I was in a room with just one person I couldn’t help but ask them ‘have you heard this?’, and not only ‘heard’, but ‘have you seen this / read this?’, for it goes beyond music. Already taken somewhat aback by this nugget of self-discovery, I realised, in true eureka style, that this all pre-dates my being a DJ and goes back as far as I can remember – I’ve always had an inherent need to share, it’s absolutely central to my nature. This was quite a revelation.

So it’s no wonder that I became a Disc Jockey, for once I fell in love with those circular pieces of magical plastic during my formative years, it wasn’t a matter of choosing this as a path, the path pretty much chose me.

I don’t intend this to be a DJ blog as such, but more a blog by someone who happens to be a DJ – a place where personal emphasis takes precedence over professional, although, as I’ve already explained, the two aspects are, of course, inescapably entwined.

If you want info about my DJ appearances, email greg@gregwilson.co.uk for regular updates.

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